Genesis 5:1-32, Matthew 3:1-6, Psalms 3:1-5, Proverbs 1:24-28
Psalms: “But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. I cry aloud to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain. Selah I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the Lord sustains me.” (Psalms 3:3-5 CSB)
David wrote this psalm when he was fleeing his son Absalom. It was probably one of the most tumultuous times of his life. His son staged a rebellion and was seeking to kill him. Some of his most trusted friends and advisors forsook him. He was run out of his home and was hiding out in the wilderness. It seemed that all of his world was crashing down upon him – and the cause: his own infidelity and sin. Yet, in the midst of all that turmoil, David said that he was able to lie down and sleep. How was that even possible? His trust was in the Lord. His faith wasn’t just a religious belief system that he mentally ascribed to. No, he truly placed his complete trust in the living God that he had come to know so intimately. He truly believed in God’s mercy that was new every morning. He was confident that, because he was clean before the Lord and trusted in Him completely, that the Lord would protect him and preserve him, no matter the challenges he faced. The same can be true of us today. If we truly place our trust in the Lord and not worry, we can – even in the direst of circumstances – lay our head down at night and sleep peacefully because we are in and under the mighty hands of the true and living God.
Jamie Hicks 